1.1 The Earliest Americans
Dec 17, 2015
1.1 The Earliest Americans
The First Americans
• The Land-Bridge Theory• 10,000 to 100,000 years ago much of the earth
was covered in ice
• This allowed more of the land to be dry
• During these times a land bridge was accessible between Asia and N.A.
• 20,000-30,000 years ago hunters followed game across this land-bridge
The First Americans• Other Theories• Coastal –route theory
• People traveled by boat across the arctic
• Then down the Pacific coast
• Native American traditions
• Many Nat. Am. Cultures have their own traditions as to how they settled the land
• These are their creation stories
The First Americans
• Learning to Farm• Hunting met most of the needs for centuries
• When the big game was gone or nearly gone Nat. Am. They became hunter-gatherers
• About 8,000 years ago farming began in Mexico
• In dry areas farmers learned to irrigate
• The surplus created in farming communities lead to surplus
• Which leads to cities
The First Americans
• Three Civilizations• Mayas
• Built cities in Mexico & Central America
•Plazas
•Pyramids
•Temples
•Ball courts
•Palaces
The First Americans
• Three Civilizations• Mayas
• Other developments
•Arts
•System of gov.
•Written language
•Studied the stars
•Calendar
The First Americans
• Three Civilizations• Mayas
• Abandoned cities
• Why?
•Disease
•Overpopulation
• Their language is the root of 20 languages in Cen. Am.
The First Americans
• Aztecs• Nearby, in central Mexico, the Aztecs were
coming into power
• Tenochtitlan
• Their capital city
• Where present day Mexico City is
• Built on islands in the middle of a lake
The First Americans
• Aztecs• Nearby, in central Mexico, the Aztecs were coming into
power
• Tenochtitlan
• Connected to the mainland by a series of causeways
• Farmed on the lake in floating boxes called chinampas
• 200,000 people lived there
• May have been the largest city in the world at the time
The First Americans
• Aztecs• Religion was central to the Aztec way of life
• Temples were located in the center of the city
• Depended on the goodwill of their gods
• Practiced human sacrifice
• Their armies conquered the surrounding area (modern day Mexico)
• The people they conquered had to pay high taxes
The First Americans
• Incas• While the Aztecs were conquering their
neighbors the Inca had built the largest empire in the world
• Along the west coast of South America
• The capital, Cuzco, was connected to the rest of the empire by a vast series of roads
The First Americans
• Incas• Known for their stone buildings
• Built canals, and terraces for farming
• Gold and silver jewelry
• Fine cloth
• Metal working
• Used quipu (knotted ropes) for communication